Helga Jónsdóttir, a former chairman of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is temporarily stepping in as CEO of Reykjavík Energy, RÚV reports. Helga’s two-month appointment was unanimously approved by the board. She is taking over for Bjarni Bjarnason, who temporarily stepped down while the organization conducts an investigation of its “workplace culture.”
Bjarni Bjarnason has been implicated in a still-unfolding workplace harassment scandal which originally centered around the “inappropriate behaviour” of Bjarni Már Júlíusson, the former CEO of ON Power, which is a subsidiary of Reykjavík Energy. Bjarni Már has been fired from his position, while Bjarni Bjarnason, his former boss, has been accused of knowingly turning a blind eye to his behavior.
According to former employee Áslaug Thelma Einarsdóttir, she spoke up about the CEO’s misogynistic behaviour over a period of 18 months and was fired for doing so. In a Facebook post, Áslaug claimed that Bjarni Bjarnason had known about her several complaints for months but done nothing about them because Bjarni Már ‘had been running the company so well’.
